Category: Liturgy

“Bowing” is indicated repeatedly in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), the Church’s directives for the celebration of the Mass, but No. 275 offers a helpful summary of…

“Bowing” is indicated repeatedly in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), the Church’s directives for the celebration of the Mass, but No. 275 offers a helpful summary of this posture:

“A bow signifies reverence and honor shown to the persons themselves or to the signs that represent them. There are two kinds of bow: a bow of the head and a bow of the body.

“a) A bow of the head is made when the three Divine Persons are named together and at the names of Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of the Saint in whose honor Mass is being celebrated.

“b) A bow of the body, that is to say, a profound bow, is made to the altar; during the prayers Munda cor meum (Cleanse my heart) and In spiritu humilitatis (With humble spirit); in the Creed at the words et incarnatus est (and by the Holy Spirit . . . and became man); in the Roman Canon at the Supplices te rogamus (In humble prayer we ask you, almighty God). The same kind of bow is made by the Deacon when he asks for a blessing before the proclamation of the Gospel. In addition, the Priest bows slightly as he pronounces the words of the Lord at the Consecration.”

Linguistically, the response “Blessed be God for ever” used at Mass translates the Latin Benedictus Deus in saecula. Benedictus, in Latin, literally means to speak well or favorably about some one or…

Linguistically, the response “Blessed be God for ever” used at Mass translates the Latin Benedictus Deus in saecula. Benedictus, in Latin, literally means to speak well or favorably about some one or something (bene: well; dictus: say or speak). Hence, what we mean by “blessed” and the phrase “Blessed be God forever” is that “It is well that God should be forever praised.” We are not claiming to confer some sort of grace or favor upon God, as is often the meaning of the word “blessing” in English.

Theologically though we can distinguish between God’s intrinsic glory and his external glory. There is not one thing we can add or take from God’s intrinsic glory. He is glorious and blessed all by himself and has no need of our praise.

However, we can help to spread God’s external glory by our praise and acknowledgment of Him before others, as well as by reflecting His glory through lives of holiness, generosity and conformity to the truth. In this sense we can also understand the phrase “Blessed be God forever” to mean: “May God’s external glory and blessedness be extended and experienced in all places and times. May God be blessed (praised) everywhere and unto the age of ages.”

Our altar boys practically fight for the honor of being the thurifer. That’s the name for the server who carries the thurible — the censer — in the procession at…

Our altar boys practically fight for the honor of being the thurifer.

That’s the name for the server who carries the thurible — the censer — in the procession at Mass. They like being thurifer because they get to wear the more ornate lace surplice, and they know thurifer is the most complicated job and is reserved for the older, more experienced boys.

The use of incense is optional for most Masses. It’s used to purify the coffin at funerals and to bless statues and images. However, many Catholic priests choose not to use incense at Mass, and the people of many parishes have forgotten the uses and meaning of incense in worship.

Over the last 50 years many Catholic traditions have been abandoned and forgotten. Too many Catholics simply went through the motions and did not understand what the different devotions and actions of worship meant. When the chance came to abandon the old ways many priests set them aside in an attempt to simplify Catholic worship and make it more accessible for the people.

Ancient Incense

The first recorded use of incense for worship is from Egypt around 2400 B.C. That’s 400 years before the time of Abraham. Incense was also used in ancient China and plays a part in Buddhist, Shinto and Taoist ceremonies. Hindus have also used incense in worship from ancient times.

In the Old Testament, God gave Moses instructions on how to build the tabernacle — the traveling temple of God. The Book of Exodus recounts the instructions to build an altar of incense to stand to the side of the altar of sacrifice (see 30:1-10). When the priest enters the tabernacle each morning and evening to tend the perpetually burning lamps he is also commanded to offer incense.

Just as the oil lamps were to burn constantly in the Temple as a sign of God’s presence, so there was a constant pillar of smoke ascending to heaven from the tabernacle. The pillar of smoke was a sign of God’s constant guiding presence to the people. It hearkened back to the column of smoke that led the people through the wilderness by day and the column of fire that led them during the night.

Lenten Incense

The boy kneels as the Father prods the coals that glower in the thurible. The gray ash sticks, then crumbles, shifts and falls away. The embers surge orange before the granules, like tiny jewels, are spooned onto the fire. It is a simple ritual — almost quaint — done with ancient courtesy and restraint. In the burnt brass bowl, like a little pyre, the fire and fuel co-mingle and produce a waft of smoke that lifts to curl and cling, and break the chains of human suffering.

It’s a burnt offering; Pentecost — A bush blazing in the desert where I roam. It’s the smoke on Sinai; the still, small voice — and the sweet, cloudy pillar that leads me home.

— Father Dwight Longenecker

God even gives Moses a recipe for making the incense: “Take these aromatic substances: storax, onycha and galbanum, these and pure frankincense in equal parts; and blend them into incense. This fragrant power, expertly prepared, is to be salted and so kept pure and sacred. Grind some of it into fine dust and put this before the covenant in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you. This incense shall be treated as most sacred by you” (Ex 30:34-36).

The Jewish offering of incense continued throughout the Old Testament period — first in the tabernacle, and then in the Temple in Jerusalem. Incense was also offered as part of the religious ceremonies in the surrounding pagan religions. In fact, most of the references in the Bible to incense are the Old Testament prophets lamenting the fact that too often the Jewish people had forsaken the Lord and chosen to make sacrifices, including the offering of incense to the false gods.

Why did people offer incense in the first place? The priests of pagan religions believed that the incense was a “spiritual offering.” The smoke was an intermediary substance between earth and air. The demons were marked by a sulfurous stench, and the fragrant incense would drive them away; meanwhile, the beneficial gods would be appeased and grant the worshiper protection and prosperity.

The New Age practice of “smudging” connects people with the supposedly Native American tradition of using fragrant smoke to purify the atmosphere of an area — driving away negativities and creating a positive mood. Implied in the calm discussion of smudging is the superstitious idea that evil spirits are being driven away be the fragrant smoke and the “good spirits” will be pleased and invited.

The pagans offered sacrifices to gain benefits from the gods. Offering incense was forbidden by God in the Old Testament because it was not only a way to offer pagan gods worship, but was a way to invite them into one’s life.

The Increase of Incense

John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was a priest of the Jewish religion. He was taking his turn serving in the Temple when the angel Gabriel appeared, informing him of the pregnancy of his wife, Elizabeth. The Temple duty he was performing at the time was the evening offering of incense. As he did so his actions echoed Psalm 141:2: “Let my prayer be incense before you; / my uplifted hands an evening offering.”

The psalmist expresses the true meaning of the offering of sacrifice. It is not to appease angry false gods or to drive away the fearsome demons. Instead, the rising smoke is a symbol of prayer. The wafting smoke and the lifting up of one’s hands in the traditional gesture of prayer provides a most powerful and poignant symbol of pure and heartfelt prayer to the true God.

This beautiful prayer action is seen at the announcement of John the Baptist’s birth. That a priest of the Old Covenant was offering incense when the birth of the forerunner of the New Covenant is announced links the use of incense as a prayer offering to the worship of Christ the Lord.

The fulfillment of this worship is pictured in the Book of Revelation when St. John has a vision of the worship in heaven (see Chapter 4). He understands the worship in heaven to be a completion of the Jewish worship in the Temple. Because of his vision and because the first Christians were Jews, it would make sense to assume that the early Christians used incense in their Eucharistic ceremonies.

The offering of incense as viewed in the first few centuries of Church writings is usually negative. One of the most common ways to ask Christians to compromise their faith was to force them to offer incense to pagan gods. It is probable, therefore, that the practice of using incense in Christian worship was abandoned to avoid confusion among the faithful and to present a clear witness: incense offerings were associated with paganism and, therefore, abandoned by Christians.

Incense in worship made a comeback in the fifth century once Christianity was firmly established. Its use increased in the East and the West so that it’s use as a symbol of prayer and as a means of sanctifying and purifying became universal.

Revelation of Incense

As the use of incense increased, its connection with the Book of Revelation was seen more clearly. The apostle John saw clearly that the offering of incense was a beautiful symbol of prayer. So, he writes, “the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones” (5:8). The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.

The servers at Catholic Mass kneel before the altar during the Sanctus — when the faithful sing with the angels, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory.” As they do so they echo the angels in heaven. Then the server swings the incense as the priest offers up the Lamb of God on the altar. At that point in the Mass heaven’s doors are opened, earth and heaven are met, and we get a little glimpse of glory.

The offering of incense at Mass is therefore an important part of Catholic worship. It is at that moment that our worship on earth becomes connected with the worship of heaven.

Also, the prophecy of Malachi is fulfilled. He spoke the Lord’s words, saying, “From the rising of the sun to its setting, / my name is great among the nations; / Incense offerings are made to my name everywhere, / and a pure offering” (Mal 1:11).

The cycle of readings at Mass throughout the year has been established by the Church; more specifically, with the Second Vatican Council’s reform of the Liturgy, and by the authority…

The cycle of readings at Mass throughout the year has been established by the Church; more specifically, with the Second Vatican Council’s reform of the Liturgy, and by the authority of the Pope, a new Roman Missal and Lectionary has been established. There are two cycles of readings: weekdays and Sundays (feast days).

The weekday readings are on a two-year cycle (I, II) except for Lent and Advent, when the readings are the same every year. The Sundays are on a three-year cycle (A, B, C), supposedly because during the time of Christ the Sabbath readings in the local synagogue were also on a three-year cycle, and in the Church we try to do what Jesus did.

Vatican II reforms introduced a much wider variety of readings for the Masses because of the Church’s desire that Catholics know a lot more of sacred Scripture.

Although the cycle of readings has been established by the Church, there is room for choice depending on the occasion. For instance, the readings for a funeral Mass on a weekday could be selected from Readings for a Funeral, and not necessarily the readings for that weekday; likewise with wedding Masses, etc.; and likewise for local celebrations of local saints. All of that is set forth clearly in the “Ordo,” an official guide for the daily celebration of the Liturgy available in every diocese. Usually there is a copy of the local Ordo in the sacristy of your Church.

The 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) speaks very specifically about silence before and during the liturgy. We read: “Sacred silence also, as part of the celebration, is…

The 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) speaks very specifically about silence before and during the liturgy. We read: “Sacred silence also, as part of the celebration, is to be observed at the designated times. Its purpose, however, depends on the time it occurs in each part of the celebration. Thus within the Act of Penitence and again after the invitation to pray, all recollect themselves; but at the conclusion of a reading or a homily, all meditate briefly on what they have heard; then after Communion, they praise and pray to God in their hearts.”

There should also be silence before the liturgy: “Even before the celebration itself, it is commendable that silence be observed in the church, in the sacristy, in the vesting room, and in adjacent areas, so that all may dispose themselves to carry out the sacred action in a devout and fitting manner” (No. 45).

Though not mentioned in the GIRM, there is a long practice of maintaining silence within the body of the church after Mass. Some churches erupt in noise once Mass is over. This destroys the atmosphere of prayer that is conducive and appropriate to private prayer after Mass.

How does a pastor encourage an atmosphere of silence? By giving good example himself. If he is walking up and down the aisles and engaging in audible conversations, then he is giving a wrong cue to the people. Even worse is the practice of priests, deacons and ministers chatting in the sanctuary area before Mass.

Some carefully worded admonitions during the announcements period toward the end of Mass would go a long way toward encouraging the correct atmosphere regarding silence. In my experience, people are often unaware of the distracting nature of their chatting, and they are open to correction.

One of the devices I myself use is always to respond in a whisper when people come to talk to me in the church before Mass. Mostly, they take the hint (that they should be speaking quietly) and are not offended.

Catholics of a certain age will remember learning the Mass is “the unbloody sacrifice of the Cross.” While concise and accurate, this definition may require additional explanation. In such a…

Catholics of a certain age will remember learning the Mass is “the unbloody sacrifice of the Cross.” While concise and accurate, this definition may require additional explanation. In such a case, we may turn to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which teaches: “The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s Passover … not merely the recollection of past events.… In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way present and real” (Nos. 1362-63).

“Recollection” and “remembrance” are weak words in our modern vocabulary, because memories are what we put up with when the “real thing” is not at hand. But this is altogether the opposite meaning of these words in the Scripture and the liturgy. There, memory and recollection have immense power. At the first Passover, God told Moses, “This day will be a day of remembrance for you” (Ex 12:14). It is still so for Moses’ descendants today, and when they gather for their Passover meal, they relive the terror of a people in flight, and the relief of a nation saved. Likewise, when we gather for the Mass, Jesus’ words, “Do this in remembrance of me,” open a window onto eternity, and allow us to stand at the foot of the cross.